WHAT WE TAKE ON OUR JOURNEYS

On May 26, the Church commemorates Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury. He is depicted as the figure on the far left above the high altar at the Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes.

Augustine was the leader of a group of monks sent to England as missionaries by Pope Gregory the Great in 597, although Christian communities had already been active in Britain for several centuries. We know that these missionaries brought with them a silver cross and an icon of Christ. They may have also brought what is now known as the St. Augustine Gospels, an illuminated manuscript currently at Cambridge University, or this book may have reached them in England in 601.

Many of us have relocated ourselves at least once in our lives. As we grow older, we may feel like pilgrims through time, since in today’s world every period seems like a culture of its own. What treasures in our hearts or memories continue to travel with us? What objects help us remember our identities as we journey on through space and time?
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Charles Hoffacker